Clean or lubricate shafts, bearings, gears, or other parts of machinery.

“Clean or lubricate shafts, bearings, gears, or other parts of machinery.” is a core task performed by Maintenance and Repair Workers, General. Among the occupation's 30 rated tasks, workers place it 21st by importance (#10 most important). About 89% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. in Performing General Physical Activities
• Maintain tools or equipment. in Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Perform routine maintenance, such as inspecting drives, motors, or belts, checking fluid levels, replacing filters, or doing other preventive maintenance actions. · importance 4.3
• Inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions. · importance 4.0
• Adjust functional parts of devices or control instruments, using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, or straightedges. · importance 3.9
• Repair machines, equipment, or structures, using tools such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, wrenches, or equipment such as precision measuring instruments or electrical or electronic testing devices. · importance 3.9
• Order parts, supplies, or equipment from catalogs or suppliers. · importance 3.8
• Perform routine maintenance on boilers, such as replacing burners or hoses, installing replacement parts, or reinforcing structural weaknesses to ensure optimal boiler efficiency. · importance 3.8
• Diagnose mechanical problems and determine how to correct them, checking blueprints, repair manuals, or parts catalogs, as necessary. · importance 3.8
• Design new equipment to aid in the repair or maintenance of machines, mechanical equipment, or building structures. · importance 3.8
• Assemble, install, or repair wiring, electrical or electronic components, pipe systems, plumbing, machinery, or equipment. · importance 3.8
• Provide groundskeeping services, such as landscaping or snow removal. · importance 3.7
• Maintain or repair specialized equipment or machinery located in cafeterias, laundries, hospitals, stores, offices, or factories. · importance 3.7
• Estimate costs to repair machinery, equipment, or building structures. · importance 3.7
• Record type and cost of maintenance or repair work. · importance 3.7
• Operate cutting torches or welding equipment to cut or join metal parts. · importance 3.7

See all tasks on the Maintenance and Repair Workers, General page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-3026,
  title  = {Clean or lubricate shafts, bearings, gears, or other parts of machinery.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-3026}
}